


Heart(Just His Brother's)

by TransBunnyRabbit



Series: "I Love You, Javi" [1]
Category: The New Frontier, The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game), Twd - Fandom
Genre: 2021/Corona Virus, Brother/Brother Incest, Custody Battle, David's actually trying to change, Fluff, Inner Guilt, M/M, No Zombie Apocalypse, Pent Up Feelings, Present Tense, Safe Sane and Consensual, Sibling Incest, Slow Burn, Unresolved Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-14 09:14:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29043690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TransBunnyRabbit/pseuds/TransBunnyRabbit
Summary: Some brotherly Garcia fluff.David finally contacts his brother after years long and makes arrangements to see him in his new house,While Javier hadn't seen his brother in so long,he didn't know his brother would have looked as fine as wine.Unaware that David had felt the same,the two spent the entire day together(;3)
Relationships: David García & Gabriel García, David García & Gabriel García & Javier García & Kate García, David García/Javier García, David García/Kate García, Gabriel García & Javier García
Series: "I Love You, Javi" [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2136906
Kudos: 2





	1. I Won't Let Go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Javier gets a phone call from someone he hasn't heard from in years.

The stove's eyes lit with orange and a lit blue fire, the pan above melting the butter that was slid into its inner surface. With two light fingers, Javier plagued through the packet of bacon while laying two pieces in at a time. This was a normal morning for him. He had to eat breakfast fast or he'd miss the new season's baseball game, that would be highly embarrassing for him to be late for the first game back. It was in his honor anyway, to welcome Javier back to the league after the situation of gambling with his papa, all baseball players were to come out and play today. He was flattered but, his distaste for lively crowds of attention was severely impacted. On other terms of sequence, Javier raked up the scrambled eggs in the pan and served them on a silver platter..

Phone staying planted in his back pocket, he opened the fridge to look for a juice that he could fully wake up from. Like, an energy drink of some sort. Though he never believed that they worked, it was possible by giving them a try, which is why he bought a case of Redbull yesterday at the supermarket. Just as he was about to take one out, he felt his pocket vibrate with intensity. It was his phone, it was probably the league group chat. Or, a phone call from one of them, since his phone kept vibrating. Picking his phone from his back pocket, he looked at the Caller ID, seeing a name he never thought would contact him again. 

"B-B...Brother?" Javier watched on in disbelief, eyes widening at the picture of his older brother that was maybe so overgrown by now. Answering the call, he could feel David's presence even through the phone of where ever the hell he was. 

"H-Hermano?" David's voice rang out, sincere in all linings, Javier couldn't express how happy he was to hear David's voice. As abusive as he was, he was still his brother, and he couldn't deny that he still loved his brother. 

"Y-Yes brother, i-it's me!" Javier smiled while turning the stove's eyes down a bit, watching the bacon sizzle but draining out the sound of the sizzling. 

"Oh thank god, I'm so grateful that you answered the phone. You could've left me hanging!" He heard the sizzling and chuckled into the phone."Bacon I presume was the only way to go?" Javier only shook his head silently and popped the cap of the Redbull he was holding. 

"No, I just need a fast breakfast, the league called me back in!" Javier excitedly claimed as David laughed, his younger brother taking a sip of the canned Redbull. 

"Happy to hear, they forgave your gambling charge?" Javier summed his hands to the sides as if weighing the chances of David being correct while scrunching the phone into his shoulder and onto his ear. 

"Uhm,*Belches*E-Excuse me, sorry, they didn't. I just convinced them to let me back since I explained our situation to them after you left. They're good people." Javier put the shining Silver and dark blue can beside the counter of the stove, forgetting about the bacon he put two pieces of bread in the small green toaster plugged in by the microwave. 

"Ah, you must have been so well with talking to them, because you surely weren't with me." David joked as Javier remembered the bacon and quickly grabbed the pan, putting them on the side of the eggs. 

"Oh David, please. That's because you kept storming off when I tried talking to you!" Javier heard the toast pop but also hearing the sound of Gabe's voice in the background. 

"Haha, listen, I'm not here to dwell on past things, or pick fights. All I'm saying is that I think you've changed. I can hear it in your voice." David made sure to rub it in, salt inside of wounds? More like Salt on snail skin. 

"Yea, I did, and I hope you do with me." Javier smiled while turning off the stove and grabbing a fork from the drawer by the left side of the oven. 

"I..I'm currently trying my best to. Listen, I wanted to change for you. I'm doing what I can for the time being. That's why I reached out to you, I wanted to set the new record straight." David heard the clinking of the fork on the plate. 

"I-In...*Crunch* good health I hope." Javier's teeth ripped down on a piece of bacon, trying to flee the fate of becoming mush. 

"I just said I wasn't calling for a fight, Javi." David sighed as Javier snickered with a mouth full of crispy bacon pieces. 

"You know I'm just kidding, right? You seriously need to take a load off, all that soldier work you're doing is making you less enjoyable!" Javier admit, swallowing the rest of the steaming meat and continued with the eggs. 

"At least I moved out." Javier rolled his eyes and then once again, shook his head. 

"Hey, I moved out too, Kate didn't tell you? I asked if she would."Hearing a gasp on the other end. 

"You moved out?! When did you do that?! And why didn't you tell me yourself?!"He could hear David's anger surge with that and honestly, Javier didn't know why he didn't want to tell him. Maybe he was still angry with him? To the point where he didn't even want to tell him about anything anymore? Javier was burdened by eating the eggs, his brother wouldn't approve, he hated them. 

"I moved as soon as you left. A decade ago." Javier took a bite of the toast after the eggs, David making a 'Hmpft' noise. 

"I'm proud of you brother, I am really am. You finally grew up." David sneered happily as Javier finished, putting the plate into the sink and began to scrub at it with the green face of the sponge. 

"Thank you, I'm proud of you too man. You're actually changing." Javier grabbed his baseball hat and pat the hat down onto his head, the moisture of heat from the close space between his ear and his phone drowning the phone's screen. 

"So how's everything been recently? Any girlfriends? Or boyfriends?" David cooed like a child into the phone, mocking his brother for not having another lover. 

"You know the answer to that question, David."He frowned before David smirked. 

"Still not yet? After ten years, you'd think that you're a great candidate for a dating life! I mean, the crowds love ya!" David emphasized the ending as if to point out the given attention that Javier received. 

"The crowds love me for my baseball technique, not for who I am, David." Javier wasn't known for being the most best known for his knowledge, but he was well known in the realm of being a 'Celebrity'.He was no stranger to praise, no matter what it'd be, including baseball. He knew it like the back of his hand, just like he knew that all praise from baseball was only for the actual baseball, not for himself. 

"When are you going to get a lover? I and Kate could introduce you to some new people-" Javier blocked that first question out. He didn't want anyone in his life right now, David would have to respect those wishes. 

"D-David, no, I'm fine, thank you, but, no, I...I'm not looking anyone right now." While he grabbed his bat, shuffling it in the slot, he grabbed his car keys with the house key attached and walked out the door. 

"Are you sure? I think your lonely ass needs someone to cuddle at night." David teased as Javier locked his door and began bolting down the stairs of the stone steps he lived upon. 

"David, please. No need to tease, I don't want anyone." Javier breathed heavily as David heard the running. 

"Are you rushing? Did you forget about the damned game?" David asked as Javier nearly tripped on one step from how calm David was when he said that. 

"Enough of me, how are you doing? How's the older out of the two of us?" Javier asked unlocking his car and getting in the driver's seat, twirling the key in the ignition, and starting the car up. 

"I..Well, I and Kate are...We are getting a divorce. Currently in a custody battle with Kate for Gabriel." Javier's eyes widened in disbelief before hearing Gabe in the background, "You didn't have to tell him that, dad." 

"Are you serious? Are you fucking serious David?" Javier couldn't even hear what he was saying right now. Now the jeopardy of Gabe was in the hands of the fucking court. He couldn't risk Gabe getting hurt like that, from being separated away from his nephew would be as if everything that he and David had worked for was for nothing. 

"I know things look really bad and horrible right now but trust me Javi, I'm doing everything in my power to keep Gabe here with us. Kate will NOT take Gabe away from us. We're the only actual family he's got left." David explained as Javier sat in clear dismay and sighed. 

You looked me in the eye and told me you wanted to change before you left the recruiting office. You told me you wanted something better for both of us AND your family. You said you'd make things worth it, but you only made things worse. How did it end with a fucking divorce, David? How?!" Javier couldn't hold in the intense feeling of distrust with his brother at this time. 

"She and I argued over the phone for hours through the ten years I was away, I made the trips, I made the calls, I made the visits, I tried, Javi. I really did, but, she thinks otherwise. She soonly had enough after a while of it, I guess." David sighed while Javier pulled into the driveway, on the street. 

"So you lied?" Javier said nonchalantly while David huffed and then growled. 

"No. No, I didn't. I'm doing what I can, Javi, spare me that much."His attitude wasn't gone however, it laid just right around the corner. Javier pulled to the side of the open baseball square field, staying in the car to try and finish the conversation with his brother. 

"Well, I'm already here at the game, let's finish this tonight, okay?" Swinging the door open, he shoved his keys in his left back pocket before closing the door. 

"Absolutely, it's been so long since we saw each other in person." David smiled as Javier chuckled, now thinking about it, it had been. But he realized what he said and whizzed around, leaning on the bunker of his car. 

"You're in town?!" 

"I wouldn't have called you if I weren't, Javi. You still got any knowledge left in that brain of yours?" David joked while he could hear Javier's breathing on the other end. 

"Oh shut up. I'll pick you up at the corner store where ma and papa's house used to be, alright?" Javier waved at the other players coming in from a big tour bus that parked right by his vehicle. 

"What time is best for you?" 

"Uhm....Let's say like...Five?" David watched as he heard Javier hum with amusement. 

"Sure, see you then, brother." 

"You too, brother." 

And just as they planned, after the game, the two brothers began to start their voyage of realization from each other. It was true, they hadn't seen each other in so long. They had have grown so much over the years. Back when Javier was twenty and David was thirty. It was the best feeling knowing that he would be reunited with him for so long. And to Javier, he actually thought that David had changed, well, was in the process of changing anyway. They didn't seem to have any type of leading fights, not considering Javier being livid with David that he made himself and Javier at risk of losing Gabe, David's son and Javier's nephew. Javier would do anything he could to help David get custody of Gabe. He'd even run the mile of taking Gabe into HIS custody if David couldn't get him, he didn't mind. He loved that kid so much, a mini David. The good version. While Javier could feel the sweat dripping from his temple, he also felt the sweat running from his palms, though it was nothing like the anticipation of what David would look like, running wild and free in his mind. He couldn't have changed that much, he wasn't going to be a 'New Man', but anything besides the David that he knew for such a long time, that tormented him in the ways only monsters would, was good enough. His fingers hugging the wheel and his center palms sliding from their places. He had to admit, he was nervous. What would his brother think of him now? As the traffic light he was stopped on for about three minutes turned green, he raced through the streets trying to get there on time. Eventually, after a few minutes of driving, his phone vibrated violently. David again. Upon answering, he heard a disappointed hush come on the other side. The sunset's ray gave color to the bland flavors of the car's interior. 

"Where the hell are you? I've been standing out here for twenty fucking minutes now!" David angrily began, Javier knew that was his breaking point. His patience needed help, it was way too short, though Javier knew he had a reason to be angry. He had fallen asleep on the plans he and his father had made after years of being apart, David was rightfully mad. 

"I'm coming, I'm coming, It's taking me awhile alright? I fell asleep on our plans." He turned on a right lane while David smacked his lips in response. 

"Just get here, alright? I've had to tell three women that I was gay for them to get off my damn back." He snarled as his younger brother burst into a fit of laughter. 

"And you said you changed." Calming himself down, stopping at a red light that was the turning point for the store, just two blocks away. 

"I did! I only use to say that excuse to gay guys!" He complained, Javier only chuckled a little bit more. 

"It's still an excuse. Just tell them the truth, you're a single parent. About to be, anyway." 

"Just get here." Before Javier could combat that, David hung up, he sighed and put his phone down. 

Driving past a few blocks and streets, he finally saw the store and gas station in sight, seeing someone with a camo vest on, back turned his way. He made an effort to not be surprised about how different he'd look. Pulling into one of the empty spots, Javier saw the same person pacing around the walkway. He took three deep breathes and practically cursed at himself five different times before getting out of his car, still in his baseball uniform. As he closed the door, he could feel the hot air press against his exposed neck and his sweaty hands. With all the courage he could muster, he walked up to the person pacing back and forward, still not turning around until he tapped their shoulder. Javier's stomach clenched when the person had turned around, it was just a random man walking the walkway. Quickly apologizing, the man walked away and Javier could only stand and cover his face with his palms. But before he could start damaging himself over that simple thing, he heard a chuckle behind him. One he knew way too well. 

"How'd you mistake me for him? His hair was white!" Javier turned on his boots without any words said and then stopped midway. They looked at each other up and down, Javier couldn't remember the last time he had saw his brother like this. His brother stood, in that same camo vest from when they departed, the same jeans, shoes, shirt. A smirk was playing his lips, crossed arms and head cocked to the side. Even though when Javier made eye contact with him, the smirk turned into shock, head straightened and arms falling to his sides. Javier stared back, in the same thing that they parted in. He couldn't be any happier to see his very...Ravishing and handsome brother? No, that couldn't have been right? Could it? 

"Javi.....?" He inched himself closer, Javier doing the same. David could have said the same thing about Javier, his soft looks were such fine things to look at, including his irises. Those gentle browns couldn't be missed for anything in the world. He couldn't have thought about the possibility of thinking his brother was cute, did he? Or was he just dreaming that? Dreaming that his brother's irises, small but pointed nose, dazzling lips, excruciatingly beautiful cheekbones, and messy hair wasn't as cute as he thought they were. Including his voice. He could coo any woman with that voice, or man. 

"David....?" 

"It's been...Forever. I-I m-meant like talking about it over the phone was different from actually seeing you in person after.....All of this.' David grabbed at Javier's shoulders and pulled him into a hug. One that wouldn't have made up for the loss of those ten years, but was a starting point for now. The warmth embracing the two souls that had different dreams inspired different crowds with the sacrifice of leaving each other behind. Chests combining their breathing, the older's arms rested on Javier's waistline while Javier's were wrapped around David's neck. A type of hug only traditional lovers would pursue, the two noticed their stance but didn't care, for they were too engaged with themselves. 

"It h-has..I-It really has been! A-And I'm so sorry that I never called!" Javier's eyes burned as they filled to the edge with tears, dripping into his brother's shirt, he hugged him tighter. He felt guilty for not being the one to reach out to him after all those years, to not be able to even pick up the phone and say something to him. David had told him not to call, yes, Javier respected his wishes but it didn't make him feel less guilty about not sending a letter at least. 

"Hey, hey, don't do that, don't cry on me. I know you were still mad at me, and I understand why. You had a right-" 

" 'Have a right' my ass, I should have sent. I should have done something..I-I..." Javier mumbled off in David's chest as David rubbed his torso, his small structure was always a delight to see. He was smaller than him, which meant for Javier, he'd have to get on the tip of his toes to meet eye to eye. David groomed his brother's hair fossils, carpals resting on the back of Javier's head. He tried being hard with him so things wouldn't get emotional right off the bat but it seemed as if that only cause Javier's guilt to deepen. 

"Nothing you can do now, so get over it, I'm here now aren't I?" He broke away, putting his hands up and spinning around to show off himself while Javier wiped away the streaming tears that had gone cold, laughing. 

"In the flesh." Javier grinned as David chuckled, watching Javier take his hand and hold it while David looked down at him confusingly and somewhat wholeheartedly. 

"In the flesh indeed." He remarked, his younger seeing the scratches and bruises on each one of his knuckles. 

"I still can't believe...You're....You're here! I-In town!" Javier laid his own hand over David's knuckles as if trying to keep onto him. He didn't want him to go, whenever he had to go back, and now while they stood in front of the dim lights of a gas station. 

"I can't either, it feels so weird being back here after everything that happened." He spoke was the lowest tone he had, he was trying to be soft but it just came out threatening. Javier knew his brother was trying in good health. 

"Yea, I know. You got married to Kate right there in pa's backyard. We didn't have enough money to pay for all the wedding stuff." Javier kept hold of his hand and began to point in the direction of where the ground of a former house sat still, waiting for a new platform to become its best friend. 

"I remember that, it was the best day of my life. Pa...Pa was very angry you didn't show. Same with Mama, she could barely contain herself." David looked at his ring that was placed on his middle finger and then guided his hand away from Javier's palm, turning his back to his lovely brother, folding his leg over another. Javier began glaring at David, pushing David's back a little. 

"Don't you dare start attacking me, David. You knew I was still angry when you planned that damned wedding. There was a reason why I didn't show. Did you even tell them or did you just let them think I hated you?" David knew that he was right, he knew that Javier was still angry with him when he asked for Kate's hand in marriage. And it made him sick to his stomach that Javier also knew the exact answer to the last question. He let their parents think that Javier did this off of personal bias. 

"Yes. I did let them think that you hated me but I've changed now, I know what I did was wrong, come on, work with me here." And just like that, they returned to their old ways of fighting each other. 

"Why'd you let them think I hated you?!" Javier raised his voice only one octave before David furiously turned, looking Javier in the eyes with a death stare. 

"What else was I supposed to tell them Javier?! I'm not gonna tell them that I pissed you off on my wedding day! I won't get in arguments with the fucking family on my WEDDING DAY." 

Thinking about it made a lot of sense, the two could have killed each other with the glances they gave to each other, the same indescribable horror shared through all those years ago, along with the unknown anger of an older brother. Everything had their reason for the things that they did, it wasn't Javier's place to pry on why David kept this a secret from their parents. Which he'd never get the chance to tell now. 

"You!-....You have a point. I wouldn't want to either if I was getting married that day." Javi stepped back, sniffling as the snot from his tears made a mad dash for his top lip. David released his furious rage, sighing and watching his younger step away, he didn't want him to step back, he couldn't be afraid of him, could he? 

"Ma and papa have a way to turn our heads to stuff and let things go, sometimes. they didn't investigate, because if they did, you'd know wouldn't have asked about it. 

"Glad to hear."Javier stayed back a bit, yes, he was happy to see his brother, to have him in his arms was one of the best things he could have ever wished for. But remembering what his brother did to him was ruining the mood. Cold hands now reached the body of one once warm and filled with life, tucking his brother into his arms again, he gave his back a tap, feeling his hand against his body. 

" Don't be mad at me okay? I tried." He rested his head on Javier's bed of hair while listening to their own heartbeats. 

After five minutes of silent hugging, Javier gripped David's biceps gently, leaning his head up to look at him, David rearranged his neck to look down at his younger. Pupil to pupil, eye to eye, the two brothers felt like time was of no matter to them like they had stopped it themselves. Javier's mouth lingering for something in return, or was David just seeing things? He cupped his hands in the middle of their chests and pushed Javier away. 

"What was that for?!" Javier asked, confusion written all over his face, David walked past him with his eyes casting the ground, filled with sorrow. 

"We're still standing by this gas station, so let's cut this reunion short and get home before it gets dark, okay?" David smiled at him as Javier sighed but nodded. 

"Fine, c'mon, this is my car." Javier introduced David as his eyes widened. He had a Mercedes Benz, was he getting paid good money for this baseball shit?! 

"You've definitely turned yourself into someone else except a soft, mushy mess." Opening the passenger door, Javier got in the driver's seat and turned the ignition back on. 

" Thanks, that totally helps and makes me want to do more in my life." Javier joked while David snickered, rolling the window down to get fresh air, he felt his hand being grasped by small easily decisive palms. 

"Oh please." David chuckled before frowning but tightening the handheld that Javier had begun. After some silence with him of riding for twelve minutes, David finally spoke. 

"Javi?" 

"Yeah?" 

"Don't let go." He peeped as he sunk his ear on his younger's shoulder, sighing. 

"I won't,I won't let go."


	2. Are You Still Mad At Me?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> David and Javier have their private time to talk to each other, brother to brother about everything that they hadn't felt was right for ten years long.

"Brother to brother, Javi, you promised to take care of my family while I was away, huh? At least did you visit?" David turned to him in the car, the rumbling of the engine crumbling into existence. 

"Of course I did, I would never let you or Gabe down. She would talk about... About divorcing you but I thought she was lying. I didn't tell you over the phone because I felt as if you should have heard it in person." Javier turned on the other side of the road, hands clasping into the leather of the wheel even tighter, David's head whizzed to make sure his brother wasn't lying. A certain face, a certain blink, a certain cock of the head and he would know that Javier was lying. 

"You're...Y-You're, kidding. You...Y-You have to be." David grabbed at Javier's arm desperately, he could feel the wetness of clear desolate insolence, well, from what he was about to do. But he knew if he were to hit Javier while he was driving, it would be game over for both of the two boys. He loosened his grip on Javier's arm and soonly caked his view to the place he called home. He didn't really remember that many of the places being here before. It had been so long since he stepped foot into the city and it was amazing being home. Stopping himself from tears, he watched the old pawnshops and the small barbershops, aged of welly deserved status, pass by the vehicle he sat in. 

"No, David, no. Kate hoped that it wouldn't have come to this because she didn't want to lose you. She loves you for everything." Patting his older's shoulder, he drove through the sea of cars and then the old areas that David was gazing at. 

"She did huh? It doesn't seem like it. She was the one that even said the damned thing. I still remember it like it was yesterday...I had called her to make sure that Gabe was okay, she had said that Gabe was tested Positive for...Y'know. I was sending money for the correct medicines and she brought up something about tax payments on the damned house-" Javier realized what his brother had said, his sweet nephew had fucking covid. Why didn't David tell him that sooner?! Maybe for the same reason why Javier didn't tell David that Kate was talking about divorcing David. 

"G-Gabe's fucking positive?!" Javier nearly crashed, racking his gaze to David as David slowly turned and nodded at him with dismay scribbled on his features. 

"Yes, my dear son..H-Has..T-that stupid virus. Kate didn't protect him like she said she would. It's her fault for letting him get sick!" David couldn't help the swelling anger from his fists and the crestfallen tears impetrating to be let free. In seconds, his fist hit the dash of Javier's car, Javier stopping at a red light and grasping David's fists that met the dash. 

"D-David, the airbag-" Before he could finish, the airbag of his vehicle hit the interior, and, mainly in David's face. Javier's hand blew back as David stuffed the airbag down and out of his face before slamming his right set of war broken knuckles onto the side of the car. 

"D-David, calm down!" Javier watched him bunk his car as David sighed and leaned back, flopping onto the seat. 

"S-Sorry...I'm still trying to improve on my anger issues." David facepalmed himself as Javier chuckled and nodded. 

"You're in the process, you're attempting a different leaf, that's all I could ever ask for from you." 

' And you being back, I missed your rude ass.' He wished he could have said it, but he didn't want to be too lovey-dovey on his brother, it would be a little awkward for David to comprehend that someone missed him. 

"Hey, let's forget about the divorce for a while, you're going to worry yourself sick, let's go get some food after I show around my house?" 

"I'm not really that hungry, plus where do you even live? I'm guessing it's a way far from where pa's house was because we've been driving for like, what? Forty minutes now?" David asked as Javier watched the night blanket itself around the sky of the orange, pinkish, creamy sky. 

"Yea, you'd be surprised of where I live. I got myself a good townhouse, perfectly sized. Kinda like a cabin." Javier flickered his sight to the traffic light, the red pitching out and the green storming in. The black car in front, zooming across the clear street. 

"Oh, fancy now, are we?" David joked nudging Javier's side as Javier released his grip on his brother and onto the leather wheel stepping lightly on the gas pedal, he laughed. 

"Never in a day in my life." Javier smiled warmly, David rolled his eyes and leaned outside the window, feeling the breeze of cold air hit his skin. 

"Come on, with the money you get off of taking offers from the league, you'd think you would be living in lavish luxury." David gave Javier a one-sided smile as Javier scoffed, similar to a beckoning call of disgust from HEARING about a 'Lavish Luxury Lifestyle'. He never wanted to live one, it would make him feel like a celebrity, something he didn't want. At least right now, for the time being with. 

"That shit isn't for everybody, David. I'm one of them, it frustrates me, man, it really does." Javier sneered, finally pulling down the street to his house all the way down. He lived on the outskirts of town, a small, silent place to live, it was perfect for an introvert like Javier. 

"You serious? If I were you, I'd be rollin' it in, Javi." David contorted, Javier smacked his lips and swatted at David, thumb lazily trailing along with the rest of its four brothers. The dim street poles washed away by the traveling, the car pulling into the driveway of grass, though, David couldn't make out what it looked like yet in the night, Javier could easily tell. He'd even know how to if the trail up the stairs wasn't cascaded with light. He'd been living there for ten years now. 

"Of course you would, David. But don't you earn a pretty fair wadge in checks from being in the military?" Javier asked, putting the car in park, unbuckling his seatbelt, getting out, along with David doing the same. 

"Yea, but I give all of it to my son and Kate, well, back when we were a family. When everything was great like it had been once before." David sighed while scrunching his eyes into small slights to attempt to see the house. Javier gave him a confused look. 

"Dude, you gotta learn to split the money evenly between yourself, Kate, and Gabe. Well, just Gabe now." Javier gestured for David to follow him up the stairs, a form of childish bravery that he was the one showing his brother the things he earned, by himself. 

"Thirty thousand a year, mostly on bills, then, Gabe's education and other things he wants, and then a large sum put into getting Kate everything she wants." David sighed, following his brother up the chairs and in front of a small little studio house. Stoned against everything it knows, the grass surrounding the house hiding the gentle and beautiful flowers, the door with a 'Gone Fishing' sign above it. David stood in shock at this very large achievement. 

"If a lover contains having to spend all of my thirty thousand dollars, then I don't think I want a lover."Javier pulled his keys out of his back pocket, folding through them to see which one would click his interest as David nodded, looking at the exterior of his house. 

"Yea, you have a point. I'm starting to think she was just there for...My...." He didn't want to say it because he didn't believe it himself. But that slight possibility was something he couldn't just turn away. 

"Assets? Money? Yeah, I had that feeling too. Every time I went over there, she would be handling or talking about money, on top of the divorce talking bull crap." Javier slid the key into the doorknob, twisting it and then opening the door. 

"Y-Yeah." David sniffled at that response, entering his home while Javier turned on the lights. The wonderful marble floor shined and stared him in the face, white furniture giving light to the pitch-black painted walls, glass table, glass coffee table by a small, old vintage tv. It was from pa's house. He must have needed something that reminded him of pa every day. 

"This is my abode." closing the door, David had himself a good look around. 

"Nice house, brother." 

"Thanks, I'm pretty proud of it." Javier winked as David shook his head, Javier guiding him through the house, he presented each room to his older brother, showing him the things that he usually would pass by. Leading to the two brothers sitting on the couch. 

"What about we go out to eat, as I said?" Javier asked before David waved his hand in Javier's face, Javier's head leaning on his older brother's shoulder. 

"But I'm not hungry, I already said that. Why are you trying to get me to eat? You're the one that hardly has any meat on their bones." David snickered, feeling his brother's much smaller body frame hum against him. It was a wonderful feeling. A good feeling that he wished to stay forever, but not in the way he intended it to. 

"Well, I want to do something with you, except just sit around my house and talk about sad shit David, that's what quality time is," Javier's arms climbed to reach David's hair while he sat beside him, David mourned the gaze of relaxed pupils, stretching over Javier's neck and pulling him close into a warm hug. Javier jumped up, a light bulb gleaming in his head. 

"How about playing some baseball with me again? Like old times." Javier questioned, David pulled back and gave him a 'Seriously?' face. 

"You know I'm not good at baseball, let's try the shooting range, Jim's Ol' Shooter Club."Javier shook his head, cuddling back into his embrace before saying the worst news that David could ever hear, despite his ma and pa's death news. 

"Jim's Ol' Shooter Club got shut down two years after you left, I thought Kate would tell you that too." Javier felt David's arms raise and then a groan of embalmed displeasure. 

"Why?!" 

"Gun violence. Five incidents, all incidents tying with guns that came from the clubhouse. Armed robberies, shootouts, killing policemen and so on. The club was of course held responsible and the mayor soonly shut them down, along with each shooting range in the city." Javier peeped as David slammed his open palm down on the standing of the couch. 

"You fuckin' serious?!" 

"Unfortunately, yea. but even if it was open, they close when the sun sets, so you wouldn't have gotten there anyway." Javier turned around and straddled his brother, David's pupils softened. 

"Ugh, baseball it is then." David lazily replied as Javier came closer but instantly was rejected when David's open hand came in contact with his chest stopping him from moving any closer. David's head turned to the side to not receive whatever Javier was trying to give. He couldn't. 

"Oh...O-Okay, y-yea, Uhm, b-baseball instead!" He lifted himself, running to the white door that led to the outside, ignoring the pinging in his heart in which he couldn't even begin to concoct why it was. 

"Don't we need to go out the front, your car is in the front of your house." David thumbed behind him to the front door as Javier laughed and shook his head, halfway out the door, one cleat after the other, hitting the wooden porch, stuck to be friends with the night sky. 

"I bought a little practice cage outside my back, c'mon." Javier called, David rising from the couch and to his brother's side to see the battering cage outside his huge backyard. 

"Jesus, you didn't tell me you were a millionaire." David opened the cage door of the second while Javier did the first, laughing and grabbing his bat from behind his back, and running to the ball machine, pressing on. 

"Shut up already, I just like to have my careers right outside my back door." He chuckled, running back in his spot as David did the same, bolting back with his hands upwards, raising to the bat that sat in the corner of the cage. They'd play in the dark but it was still fun, at least to Javier. David kept getting strike, after strike. Javier would often talk when he was playing baseball but since his brother didn't like it, they stayed silent. Only the rippling sound of the sound barrier being broken from when their bats were craned back and then swung to the ball and David's occasional one-liners. 'Fucking hell.', 'This is bullshit.', 'How?!' Even though there wasn't much to say when David kept on with his one-liners, Javier knew that something was off. They didn't have the same relationship that they did when they were young, foolish children. Their hearts had different goals and their minds had different views on what they both wanted. It was hard to know that David didn't want the same thing as Javier did, or he was trying to resist it the best way he could. Though his heart stayed in the right place, its condemning of this foul love was breaking his connection with his brother apart. Javier would have to try at least one more good time to get there, to give a go at something that his brother may or may not want. He'd take any chance he could get to make it up to his brother for not being there and not calling, even if that meant treating him like a lover, he didn't care, he just wanted something to spark between them, other than their brotherly love. As he swung once more, Javi got a home run while his brother, on the other hand, flopped his shot. He tsked and readied himself again. 

"Fucking superb." David lied through his teeth, strangling the bat, Javier sighed and unlocked his cage, going over to David's and shaking his cage lock. 

"What are you trying to do? Break-in? Just ask, you don't have to be mute." David smiled while opening the cage as Javier came in and chuckled, closing the cage, he saw a fastball coming their way. Within seconds, David was being pushed to the right, Javier getting hit in the back with a ball, he grunted lightly like it was nothing. How?! 

"I could've taken that, I don't need you to save me like I'm a princess." David complained as Javier tsked. 

"If that had been a bullet, would you still have taken it?" Javier asked silently as David missed the second ball that came his way, Javier standing back while he swung. 

"....Don't be sappy." David sat in silence before feeling Javier's hands on his forearm.

"Hold your arms like this, thigh straight in the front, right leg back, make it like a dagger." David confusingly tried his best to follow his orders but as the third ball came flying to them, he wasn't ready. Javier groaned before getting in front of him and taking every ball to his back that shot from the machine. David watched in shock, raising awareness that Javier was willing to do anything for David to prove his love and try to earn something in return for it. 

" I said thigh straight." Patting David's left thigh, it ended almost hardly close to the ground while he arched his back inward. 

"Perfect, now when you swing, make sure to swing with your elbows at a 90-degree difference from each other." 

"How the hell.." David asked as he did what he was told by his younger brother, Javier watching him and making sure he didn't fuck anything up. 

"Just do it, and drop the attitude." Javier joked as David chuckled. 

"Whatever you say, hotshot." David meant it, he actually did, but he didn't want any problems to arise, so he kept his gaze on the ball incoming. Javier caught that nickname, he let it sink in, hearing the clink flicker into existence as David began smiling in the moonlight. 

"See? There you go, not that hard, right?" 

"Be quiet." David joked but it didn't seem to Javier as if he took it as a joke. He nodded slowly and began to walk out of the cage before David turned and grabbed his shoulder. 

"H-Hey, you don't actually have to stay silent, you know that right?" 

"Y-Yeah, but wouldn't you prefer me to stay silent?" David turned to him while Javier didn't make eye contact with him, looking at the ground only. 

"Why're you looking at the ground?" He turned fully towards the younger, then to turn off the machine while Javier didn't answer. 

"Javi." He said again before taking Javi's forearm and wiggling him around a bit. 

"Y-yea? I was...Thinking about something." Javier said as he exited the cage, David searching for remorse in those chocolate irises but finding non. As he chased Javier down, he reached the warming lights of the inside of his house, creaking the door open, David took his hand. 

"You feel it too don't you?" He asked his brother, voice cracking and the feeling of his sweaty, clammy palms. Javier stopped, pausing in the middle of the doorway as David reached out to him once more but Javier rejected the contact of his fingers. 

"Yea, I do. It-" 

"Hurts?" David turned Javier around to see the childish tears and the frown of years past plastered onto his face. The glass film covering the eyes of both brothers shattered under the pressure and the heat breaking into them. 

"Y-Yea. A lot. It really, r-really...H-Hurts." While Javier couldn't help but feel betrayed by his body, David didn't care about that, he tried pulling Javier into a hug but he pushed back this time, retaliated against him. 

"I-It..It's s-so much to t-take in....I-It r-really is. I-I didn't think that I-I could ever..." Javier backed into the warm light as David followed, closing the back door and sighing when Javier unlaced his boots, walking towards a room with a golden doorknob, maybe his bedroom. 

"Fall in love with your own damn brother? Yeah, I wonder the same, though, I never would want to carry these actions out..." He couldn't have felt anymore happier to be relieved that his brother felt the same. Javier however, didn't look like he was in good spirits to talk about those feelings with him, nor with anyone for that matter. 

"I...I want to, do you?" Javier set his boots inside of the closet, David sitting on his fluffy white bed sheets, hands clasping around his own neck and smoothing up and down. 

"Want to what?" David looked at his brother as Javier blinked, face stricken with tears David's eyes widened. He was thinking of the inevitable, why would the innocent one want something so horribly wrong? 

"Oh dear god, Javi, no, w-we..W-We...W-We're brothers." David couldn't skip past it like it didn't exist, he had to let Javi know that this was wrong if he couldn't figure that out for himself." 

" O-Oh, I..I-I'm s-so...I-I'm s-so sorry!" Javier wiped his tears away, one weak, laying away like a fragment of glass, teeth clenched together that could barely bring oxygen into his frame. David felt bad for him. So this was what the two of them were trying to avoid. Is this the real reason why Javier didn't call, was he afraid that this would have happened? That he would fall in love with his brother? David had read about this type of stuff when he couldn't fall asleep in the nights. But with people's fathers and daughters. Fathers would leave their daughters away for too long that when they come back, they want something more than just a father and daughter bond. It was a common link of desperate unrequited love after being away from the person for so long. It was the same with mothers and sons but to siblings? He read somewhere that it was rare for siblings but he guessed that's just what happens when you leave your brother for a decade without any type of communication. He felt it in himself, even if his brother didn't call him, David should have picked up the phone and tried to. He should have attempted to make things right between him and his brother, and now, this was happening. If one of them would have called, sent letters, went to visit, traveled, met up somewhere, at least even a little gift to be sent to prove that they cared for each other, but nothing was sent, no calls were made. Nothing was like it should have been, including the relationship that was only supposed to be strictly brotherly love. 

"Javier, wait a minute-" Before he could finish, Javier was out the room, speed walking to the front door and lifting the outside mat picking up a lighter and a packet of cigs. David gaged where he was by the sound of the front door closing. 

"Javier?!" David grasped the doorknob, twisting it to the side as he smelled...tobacco?! He was appalled when he opened the front door. His brother was smoking, he never knew Javier to be a smoker. 

"Put that shit out, we don't fucking smoke." David sterned as Javier's fingers clipped the light brown freckled inhaler, on both sides, other hand shoved in his blue-lined pants, facing the moon's glistering gaze. 

"I've been smoking since you left." Voice tearing each space that the sentence left, taking a breather, the oxygen he puffed into that cigarette flowing into a cloud of grey smoke. 

"Why?!" 

"Takes the edge off, you should try it somethings." Javier joked while the once steaming water down his bottom lashes, already beginning to feel icky. David stomped outside, slamming the door closed, echoing slap from around the empty wide vast, wrath overly seasoned on his face. 

"We made an agreement that after papa died we wouldn't smoke anymore, Javi." David flicked the cigarette from his fingers and onto the stone porch below them, standing as a pillar for the foundation of their relationship. 

"I know, but I can't...I can't stop myself, David, It helps, honestly, even though it's not a healthy way to go." Javier half-heartedly smiled, hearing his brother's foot stomp onto the burning abandoned cigarette. 

"After our father fucking died of cancer?! And you're stupid ass is able to even LOOK at one of those things without thinking of pa?!" David did make a crude argument, one that Javier wouldn't be able to fight against, he knew he couldn't. He was right. their father had died of cancer, from his smoking. A bad habit that was passed from generations long, something that he couldn't bear to think about. Including on his death bed, when Javier wasn't there and David had to pass on the promise that their papa made for them. 

"Yea, I know. I know I'm a fuck up, go ahead, tell me as you used to all those years ago."Javier sighed as slid another cigarette from the packet that he had hidden from David in his right pocket. That wasn't his intention, to make him feel that way about himself. Javier wasn't a fuck up, no matter how many times he had said it in the past, he wasn't the fuck up. He was the one actually making it, he was striving in the harsh world like David said he wouldn't have been able to do. 

"No..N-No..Y-You're not a fuck up, you just...You didn't have anyone to talk to about your problems so you-" 

"Smoked them away, yeah."Javier had to be honest with his brother, he was no liar. As he began to light the second one he got from the pack, David only raised in volume. 

"You could've called me, stop lighting these fuckers!" David smacked the box of cancer sticks out on the stone porch, Javier sighing and bending down to pick them all up but couldn't, David was already smashing each other with his foot. 

"You know why I didn't call. Do you plan on going back anyway?" Javier asked as David stopped squashing the buds on the pavement. 

"No. I need to stay for this custody battle, and, for Gabe's safety." Javier nodded at him as David hooked his arm around Javier's nape and the other side of his neck, bringing him close, head's bumping at the side. Their drying faces acted as if they were strangers. 

"Good. And I presume you and him are going to be staying at my house until everything is cleared since the house is in her name?" David snatched his head away to look at him, he was serious about that question. 

"Didn't think about that, but, yea. Funny how things change like this eh? Ten years ago, you'd be telling me the same thing, before pa died of course." David chuckled as Javier grinned all cheekily at him. 

"Yea, kinda. I'd catch you smoking a pack a day, then you'd demolish me for trying to stop you from smoking." Javier picked up a savored Cigarette that faked its death from David's boot, killing all its allies. 

"True, and I'm the one trying to stop you from smoking, hell, I can't even say anything." 

"Finish this smoke with me? Like old times?" Javier offered him to light the cigarette in the space of his index and middle fingers. David laughed while shaking his head and digging in his back pocket for the light he had taken from Javier, covering the flame with his palm, he held it close to Javier's mouth as it lit, the burning process of the rolled paper began. 

"Just like old times. But this is the last time." David pulled Javier's chin to look his way before seeing a clear flood of pink in his brother's cheeks. Javier snatched away, laughing, blowing a puff of smoke out, handing it to David. 

"Sure, watch, when you live with me, smoke breaks are on the regular." Javier joked as David swatted at the tobacco hitting his lungs, it had been a while since he smoked anything, including a cigarette. 

"Mhm, yea, keep dreamin' charmer." He watched Javier's lips purse as gestured for a hit, a quick it was, he gave it back to David and disconnected. 

"Finish that one, I'm gonna get something real quick." Javier ran back inside, shutting the door lightly as David,s hands folded into the denim pockets, finishing the rest of it and nudging the still burnt end onto the pavement. 

"Back- My god, that was fast as hell, you were dying for a smoke break, huh?" Javier came back outside the front with a broom and dustpan. 

"I guess so? Now that I remember better, it does help with my nerves, thanks for bringing out the broom, sorry for your porc-" H stopped as he watched his brother began to sweep the mess of tobacco and paper himself, a little shocked that he didn't hand it to him. 

"Hey, you don't have to, I made the mess-" 

"And I'm the one cleaning it. It's...It's an apology, MY apology."As he kept sweeping he could feel strong forearms imprisoning his stomach and then his head lay mute on his left shoulder. 

"You don't have to apologize. This situation isn't your fault, Javi. It's never been your fault." 

"David....Yes, it is-" A pair of lips warming the heart of the pair whom had become distant, forgotten in the shadows. A hug that could last forever. In minutes, the broom was dropped, a body ensued to turn and wrap its arms around his neck while Floating in a heavenly space he called 'Genuine Glee'. Head resting in the crook of David's neck after, David snickered as Javier tightened himself around him, but the smile on David's face vanished from a sudden fixation of mood. 

"Another question, Javi." 

"Anything." 

"Are you still mad at me?" 

Javier looked him in the eyes, the precious, sweet marbles they were, if taken good care of, they were even gentle. He kissed David's forehead and slapped his nape. 

"Of course not, you big dumbass." Javier joked and nuzzled into his arms as David chuckled, then looking at the sky. 

"I'm gonna be so much happier on top of this when I get custody of Gabe." Javier nodded, kissing his neck. Something that they knew may not have been the right choice, but proceeded anyway. Who was to judge? There wasn't like there was a rule or anything.


End file.
